More Commuters May Bike To Train

Strap on your helmet, fasten your fanny pack, lean down on those handlebars-and head for the office.

Illinois transportation officials are starting in Schaumburg with a new notion to ease congestion at rush hour: Urging commuters to bicycle to the train station.

It`s an approach that`s already widely used on the West Coast to get people out of cars. But the Illinois Department of Transportation will try it out in Schaumburg, where it has tentatively agreed to award the village a $100,000 grant to be used to link the village`s bikeway system to the Metra station on the south end of town and to provide security for bicycles there.

Joe Voccia, a local IDOT official, said plans call for similar programs by next summer in five more yet-to-be-named suburbs.

``Schaumburg was a prime candidate for this because it already has an extensive bikeway system and because of the projected impact this might have on its busy roads,`` Voccia said.

The Schaumburg Metra station, 2000 S. Springinsguth Rd., currently has parking spaces for 1,372 cars, which are more than 60 percent occupied daily. Yet a recent village survey showed that currently only about 10 to 15 commuters in Schaumburg ride their bicycles to the train station each day. The proposal is aimed at almost tripling that number.

It calls for widening from 4 to 8 feet a one-mile stretch of an existing sidewalk along Wise Road and Salem Drive to the train station.

It has been recommended for approval by the village`s Planning Department, but must first be approved by the Schaumburg Village Board, before the grant application can be submitted to IDOT.

What is most unusual about the proposal is that it calls for the construction of 20 high-security, all-weather bike lockers, fully enclosed storage spaces for bicycles.

Tentative plans call for leasing the lockers to bike commuters for a

``nominal`` fee on a quarterly basis, said Susan Pinsof, senior planning analyst for the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission. She and IDOT officials have been working closely with Schaumburg planning officials on the proposal for several months.

``Our research has shown that one of the biggest deterrents to cycle commuting is that the bicyclists fear for the safety of their vehicles,``

IDOT`s Voccia said. ``They don`t want to get off the train and find them stolen.``

The plan also calls for 30 medium-security bike racks-sophisticated three-prong metal racks that lock up both wheels.

``We`re trying to provide as many alternatives to car commuting as possible, and this is a great one we can do with minimal trouble and investment,`` Dabareiner said.

The proposal is expected to be discussed by Schaumburg`s advisory bikeways committee at its Sept. 24 meeting at the Village Hall. If approved by that committee, it will be discussed by the Transportation Committee on Oct. 1 and forwarded to the Village Board for discussion at its Oct. 8 meeting.

``Getting commuters to use our bike paths to ride to the train station is a concept the village is very excited about,`` said Marie Lishka, chairwoman of the Schaumburg bikeways committee.